Reasons why homes don’t sell

If you have had your home on the market for several months and haven’t seen much activity or any offers, chances are
that one or more of the reasons below are to blame.

Your price is too high

No doubt about it, the most common reason for a home not selling is that the asking price has been set too high. The reasons for
setting your price too high to begin with are many. Ranging from over enthusiastic listing agents to unrealistic seller expectations.
Regardless of the reason though, if you’ve priced your home too high, you’ve set yourself up for a number of obstacles to selling your
home. Even if you do get an offer for the overly high asking price, the deal may fall apart if an appraisal comes back at a lower price. A Buyer can't typically get a loan for more than the appraisal price. Look at other homes for sale, ones as similar and as close to yours as possible. If they are
going for less than you are asking, you may be priced too high. The fact is, your home is competing against those other homes, and what
buyers are willing to pay is what will determine final sales prices. The kiss of death for a home is the idea of pricing high because you can always reduce it. Pricing high will require more time on the market - "more time on the market = less money in the Seller's pocket". With each price reduction, a property will likely stay longer on the market, often to see if it's reduced again. It's worth restating - "more time on the market = less money in the Seller's pocket".

The condition of your home

There is a lot of competition out there to sell homes. Your home has to compete against other similar homes for sale, as well as competing
against shiny brand new homes. The more you can do to make your home look appealing to a buyer, the better your chances for a quick sale.
Look at your home with a critical eye – put yourself in the buyers position. A buyer doesn’t want to have to do anything except move in.
Your best “bang for the buck” in improving the condition of your home are paint and flooring. Make sure that all of the paint is in great
condition, both inside and out. Repainting doesn’t cost too much, and will usually make the biggest impact on buyers. Make sure all of the
flooring looks good too. You may want to consider putting in new laminate or hardwoods in living areas to replace any carpet (carpet is quickly loosing favor) and laminate or tile in kitchens & baths. It sure does make an impact on
buyers coming to look at your home. However, the right price can counter most condition issues.

Location, location, location

When it comes to homes,
things like how good the schools are, crime rates, visual appeal of the neighborhood and noise or the smell of pollution can all effect
how desirable the location is. If you’re in a bad location, a good real estate agent may help to minimize some of the impact by suggesting
improvements to the house. But the only really reliable way to overcome a bad location is with a lower price. Simply put, an identical home
in a bad location won’t sell for as much as the same home in a better location. Again, price is the key.

The market is slow

You’ll hear it described as a slow market, or a buyers market, or maybe a cold market. But it all means the same thing. That home
sales in the local area, or market, are slow. That there are too many homes for sale and not enough active buyers. There are several things
you can do to combat a slow market. The most effective strategy is to sell at a lower price. Buyers are expecting to find bargains during a
slow market. You can also help yourself by offering to pay some concessions to help a buyer that might not have a lot of cash.

Your home isn’t easily accessible

To get your home sold quickly, it’s important that other agents in the area show it to as many potential buyers as possible. When a
busy agent is compiling a list of homes to show a buyer, the agent will naturally tend to show those houses that are easiest to gain access
to first. Many homes on the market have “lock boxes” on them. The lock box is a device which holds a key to the home, that only qualified
local agents can access. Homes that are listed as being “lock box, no appointment needed” will get shown more often than homes listed as
“agent has key, call for appointment”. If at all possible, you should let your agent put a lock box on your home for easier showing. If not,
you should do anything else you can to make it as convenient as possible for agents to show your home.